She went back to putting up the clean glassware.
Between the demands of running Cuppa Jo’s and Blue being on the police force here on Crown Island, their relationship had worked for a long time. Mostly because he could drop in whenever he had time to eat or come over after a shift. Her kitchen had always been open to him, here at the diner and her home.
She’d probably made it too easy for him. That’s what her mother once said. Not that Sylvie Dufour’s advice was worth much, or that she heard it often, since her mother was now living in Cabo San Lucas with her current future ex-boyfriend.
The last time Jo spoke to her, maybe a year ago, she suspected her mother was drinking or on drugs from the way she slurred her words. Her mother had an assortment of issues, none of which Jo could help her with.
Her mother had a lot to say about men, little of it good or useful. Her parents had been divorced since she was a kid, and her brother Hugo was an infant. When her mother wanted to move to Mexico with a boyfriend, Jo brought her brother to Crown Island, enrolled him in school, and bought a rundown house on Sunshine Avenue for them to live in.
Hugo had helped her make repairs and paint. And now he was studying at the university, something she’d never had the chance to do, except for a few community college courses.
That’s why she wouldn’t compromise. The last thing she wanted was a situation like her mother had been through. Sylvie wasn’t bad, but the men she chose were. Jo and her brother had to call one of them Dad, even though they hadn’t seen him in years. Poor Hugo wouldn’t know him if he saw the guy on the street.
Their grandmother, Sylvie’s mother, had been the calming influence in their young lives.
Jo stood to check on her customers.
“Please listen to me.” Blue caught her hand across the counter. Despite seeing her cringe, he went on, an edge of urgency in his voice. “My mother needed me, and I’m the only son she has left. I hope you understand why I went. I love you, Jo.”
She drew her hand back. She wasn’t ready to cave at his touch. “So how is she feeling?”
Blue blinked. “She’s fine. Nothing but nerves. You know how she is.”
Jo understood and felt sorry for the woman. She couldn’t imagine losing a son, and when Blue left, his mother Rhonda must have felt like she was losing another one. But Blue insisted his life was here, and his mother needed therapy. He’d told her many times he’d never return to Chicago.
His sisters weren’t helping the situation, even though they lived in the same neighborhood. Jo wasn’t heartless. She knew they were all grieving and had been for years.
Yet if he wasn’t going to make a decision about their future, she would.
Blue leaned in. “You seem upset.”
“You think? You spent our entire vacation time there. I told you I could join you for a few days. Candy would have covered for me.” If his mother wasn’t that ill, why did he stay so long?
When he didn’t answer, she said, “I’d rather not talk about this here.”
Blue stroked his smooth jaw. “It’s complicated, you know?”
“No, I don’t. Explain it to me.”
Blue only shook his head.
She returned to reorganizing the shelf behind the counter. How did he think she was going to react?
He shifted on the stool. “Mom is doing a lot better than I thought, but she’s not getting any younger.”
She looked up. “Your words or your sisters?”
He ran a hand over his hair. “Jo?—”
“Are your sisters looking after her?”
“They are. Fortunately, Mom’s symptoms turned out to be a panic attack, not the heart condition she thought she had. Still, it could happen.”
“Anything could happen, Blue.”
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Jo wished she could take them back. She busied herself with the glasses again.
The worst had happened in his family. Blue and his brother had served together on the Chicago police force. Charles was a detective, and suffered a fatality during an early morning, multiagency raid. After he was laid to rest, Blue had packed a bag and driven west the next week, heartbroken. He’d had to start all over with the police force on Crown Island.
